Hero
by Aurora Borealia
Summary: WARNING: SPOILERS UP TO AND INCLUDING EPISODE 7! The night of Graham's death, Emma drives away from Storybrooke, thinking on all the reasons she is not the hero everyone says she is. Or is she? One-shot; rated T for slight language.


_**Hello all! This is my first "Once Upon a Time" fanfiction. It's just my take on Emma's reaction the night after Graham died. I'm sure a lot of other people have done this same concept - and probably have done it much better - but I just wanted to write up my own take and I am pretty proud of the result. Hope you like it! Enjoy! - AB**_

_***Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, places or situations from "Once Upon a Time". They belong to ABC and the writers, as well as the orginal makers of the fairy tales the show is based on. Purely for fun, not profit.**_

Hero – A Once Upon a Time Fanfic

I am no hero. Heroes are supposed to be selfless and brave. They are supposed to have level heads and good hearts and forgive when they have been wronged. They are supposed to win in the end. Aren't they supposed to get everything their heart desires? Isn't that what a hero is supposed to be?

That will never be me. I will always be a shallow person with walls thrown up around my heart because nothing ever goes my way and I'm sick like hell of hurting. I realized now I'm not a hero. I'm just a woman who can't mind her own business in a cheap, yellow car driving away from everything I hold dear in the middle of the night.

I waited until midnight, when I was a hundred percent sure Mary Margaret had fallen asleep down the hall. I scribbled her a note telling her thank you, good luck and good bye, folding it on the kitchen table for her to find in the morning. She's been a good friend to me, I couldn't just leave without saying something.

I lean in over the wheel of my car, both front windows open. I let the cold night air attack my face, hoping it will make me forget everything. Everything, but most of all, Graham. Was I really such a fool that I broke my own rule and allowed myself to wander into that? Looking back on it now, I can't believe I let my guard down long enough to fall in love with him, to hope and pray that he may love me back or at least like me mildly enough to talk to me. Lord knows I needed to pray since Regina had a hold on him in every possible way. I think about the hold she had on him and know that the fact he even glanced at me sideways was ballsy. He was risking a lot by associating with me. And it didn't end well for him, did it?

I suppose part of the reason I'm driving out of town in the dark is because I squandered his sacrifice. I should have pushed him away and instead I was stupid enough to think for once of what the future could hold for us. I should have known that bitch would never leave me alone long enough for that to happen. But I thought perchance I had won for once. I never win. Just another reason why I am not a hero. Poor town, thinking _I_ could help them.

I slam the accelerator with my foot, blowing past Storybrooke's sign. Flooring my car is something I do when I run away. It's as if running away isn't enough for me. I have to do it as quickly as possible too. Except this time, it is different for me: I've never run away from so much in my life before. Maybe because I've never failed so much in my life as I have failed during my time here. I flee like I've never fled in my life and think about the people who trusted me: a woman who dared to be my friend, my son, a man who was risky enough to love me…

Pulling off to the side of the road, I stop, unable to drive through the tears in my eyes. I sit in the driver's seat and simply cry for a few minutes. I can't stop thinking about how much I meant to these people. Henry trusts me. Can I leave without helping him escape from that awful woman masquerading as his mother? Can I act like I don't trust him, don't believe him, that all this time I've been lying? I imagine the look on his face and get sick to my stomach. I simply cannot abandon him to walk down those long years with Regina as his mother.

Regina…a picture of her face comes to my mind and immediately makes my blood boil. It has been her all along, there every step of the way to ruin me in one way or another. She's hurt a lot of people just to get to me and she'll hurt a lot more if I'm gone. I glance at my watch, hoping I can make it back before Mary Margaret finds the note.

I am no hero, but it took a lot of bravery to turn that car around, my tires crying out in the night and leaving huge, jagged streaks in the grass. I set my teeth grimly and floor the gas once more in the direction of Storybrooke. If Regina Mills wants battle, she's got it. I may not be a hero, but I can promise one thing: I will make that woman suffer more than she's ever suffered in her life.


End file.
